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Need advice with tetras and stocking for my new tank

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Hi Guys,

I am Puneeth and very new to this hobby but very passionate about it. I have a tank of about 18 G with N cycling done( Ammonia and Nitrite is undetectable). I have about 6 guppies, 3 Zebra fish and two plecos( about 2.5 to 3 inches in size). I want to introduce some tetras in to the tank, but wanted to seek some expert opinion from you guyz before I do so.
please help me with the following questions,

1. Have I already overstocked my tank(My tank also contains some Java Moss and Water sprite)?
2. Is tetra compatible with guppies,zebra and pelcons? If yes which tetra should I go for(I would like to keep smaller fish)? and what is the minimum number I should buy?
3. Should I keep the plecos in my planted tank or relocate them as I see them munching on my live plants ?
4. Do I need CO2 equipemt for Java Moss and Water sprite?

I am looking forward to your expert opinion and any guidance is greatly appreciated.

Which is a shoaling species. I'd get a few more and leave it at that. You should try to identify your pleco. Some grow to more than a foot long. Feed them some cooked veg and they should leave your plants alone.

what sort of filtration do you have? btw yourpleco is probably a common which will grow huge and 9/10 times you will have to return him/her unless you are willing to upgrade your tank.

IMO, if you have good filtration well over what your tank needs you can overstock it a bit aslong as you do regular maintenance. Dont just buy any tetra that people suggest otherwise you might end up not liking it..do a little research into which you like and we can maybe narrow them down. As talldutchie said 'id get a few more and leave it at that' reason being if you wanted tetra most tetra school which means they need a group to feel safe, by a group some say 6 but i wouldnt have less than 10.

Which is a shoaling species. I'd get a few more and leave it at that. You should try to identify your pleco. Some grow to more than a foot long. Feed them some cooked veg and they should leave your plants alone.

Thanks a lot for the quick reply..

I will try to identify the pleco... how about adding 6- 8 neon Tetras ? hope that will not overcrowd the tank..

what sort of filtration do you have? btw yourpleco is probably a common which will grow huge and 9/10 times you will have to return him/her unless you are willing to upgrade your tank.

IMO, if you have good filtration well over what your tank needs you can overstock it a bit aslong as you do regular maintenance. Dont just buy any tetra that people suggest otherwise you might end up not liking it..do a little research into which you like and we can maybe narrow them down. As talldutchie said 'id get a few more and leave it at that' reason being if you wanted tetra most tetra school which means they need a group to feel safe, by a group some say 6 but i wouldnt have less than 10.

Thanks for the reply..

I had no clue that plecos will grow so large... I am going to have a much larger tank in a couple of months time.. and I guess I will relocate the Plecos to the larger tank once the new tank is up and running... I think I will go for the neon tetras as I like them a lot...

In my opinion adding neons now is not a good idea. You already have 6 guppies, unless there's no females there's a good chance their number will increase. Your zebra fish really could do with 4 friends. That would be a nice total, allow the fish some space to swim and it would leave you room for error.

As to the "pleco" a picture would help. In some parts of the world like the US of A it's very normal to sell "common pleco" aka http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/...species_id=580 but over here in Europe that species isn't sold nearly as much. What is sold as a pleco can be lots of things really.